Bozell Column: Losing Patience With the Pope

March 19th, 2013 10:21 PM
Many millions of Catholics around the world were joyous with the naming of a new pope – a holy man from the Third World, no less. Even in choosing his name, Pope Francis is emphasizing a devotion to the poor, and a humility in his clothing and manners. The liberal media should be lapping this up. There was an accurate recounting of the global rejoicing, especially in Argentina. There were…

CBS Ballyhoos 'Stark Contrast' Between 'Conservative' Pope and 'Pro-Ch

March 19th, 2013 3:36 PM
Allen Pizzey readily identified Pope Francis as a "conservative" on Tuesday's CBS This Morning, but failed to give an equivalent ideological label to Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who attended his installation Mass in St. Peter's Sqaure. Pizzey spotlighted the apparent "stark contrast" between the new pontiff and the two liberal politicians, whom he described as being "pro-…

ABC Warns of 'Conservative' Pope Who Has Been Called 'Medieval' on Soc

March 19th, 2013 12:31 PM
The media backlash against Pope Francis may be beginning. After relatively positive coverage last week, ABC and NBC on Monday both highlighted the Argentinean President denouncing his "medieval" views on social issues. World News's Ron Claiborne offered no ideological label for the country's left-wing leader, praising, "Cristina Kirchner stands for a new view of a changing world-- embracing gay…

WashPost Misleads on Catholics, Jokes Pope Francis Is An 'Infallible M

March 19th, 2013 7:34 AM
Secular reporters can easily show a lack of expertise when they crack wise that the pope is “infallible” in everything he does, as if he never sins or makes mistakes -- as if he's the man to fill our your March Madness bracket, because he cannot fail. In fact, the definition of church teaching is much narrower, only that the pope cannot err when he speaks for the church on matters of faith or…

NBC Chief Medical Editor Demands Catholic Church Support Contraception

March 18th, 2013 3:46 PM
Appearing on Monday's NBC Today as part of the Today's Professionals panel discussion, the network's chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman urged the Catholic Church to abandon its opposition to contraception: "Here's one thing I really would implore the Catholic Church to do on a global issue.... poverty without birth control begets more poverty....So this is a chance to take the humility and…

After Papal Election, WashPost's 'On Faith' Gives Garry Wills Platform

March 18th, 2013 3:30 PM
As we've documented time and again, the Washington Post's On Faith section is hostile to traditional religious faith. Section editor Sally Quinn failed to disappoint on St. Patrick's Day with her publication online of an excerpt from an interview with liberal Catholic author Garry Wills, who is promoting his new book, "Why Priests? A Failed Tradition." Coming a mere four days after the…

ABC Just Relays Ugly Accusations Against Pope, While CNN Adds Context

March 18th, 2013 1:20 PM
This past weekend, the media dug up decades-old accusations against Pope Francis from his time in Argentina. While CNN provided context and a critical eye toward the grave accusations, Sunday's ABC World News aired a one-sided report with damning overtones against the Pope. ABC correspondent Matt Gutman interviewed a family member of multiple victims of the dictatorship who accused the Pope…

WaPo's Sally Quinn: Pope Francis 'Could Possibly Have Been Involved in

March 17th, 2013 2:57 PM
Sally Quinn sure has a low opinion of the Catholic Church for someone that edits the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog. Having claimed last week on CBS's Face the Nation that "so many priests are gay," Quinn this Sunday on CNN's Reliable Sources said the lack of media vetting and background checks of Cardinals meant Pope Francis "could possibly have been involved in a scandal" (video follows…

ABC Touts 'Staunch Traditionalist' Pope Francis; CBS Highlights Persec

March 15th, 2013 6:24 PM
On Thursday's World News, ABC News correspondent Terry Moran acted like it was a big surprise that newly-elected Pope Francis stands by the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality: "Now, as the world comes to know him, it turns out, on many issues, Pope Francis is a staunch traditionalist. He compared abortion to a death sentence; called gay marriage 'destructive of God's plan.'" By…

NBC Frets New Pope 'Didn't Exactly Scream a Modern Church,' Puts Liber

March 14th, 2013 4:58 PM
In an interview with New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer worried about the age of the newly elected Pope Francis: "...there was some stunned silence for a second. I think some had expected a younger man, he's 76....When you looked at that image of the new pope standing with some members of the Church hierarchy, visually, Cardinal Dolan, it didn't…

New York Times Greets New Pope With Abortion, Gay Marriage, and the 'D

March 14th, 2013 3:20 PM
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires is now Pope Francis, and Thursday's New York Times front-page "Man In the News" profile by Emily Schmall and Larry Rohter, "A Conservative With a Common Touch," opened respectfully. But after a dash of local color and historical context, the Times quickly mounted its old hobby horse: the Church's positions on liberal issues like abortion and gay marriage…

CBS Hypes 'Staunch Conservative' Pope Francis; Rose Hounds Dolan on Wo

March 14th, 2013 1:56 PM
CBS wasted little time to play up newly-elected Pope Francis' "conservative" views on issues like abortion, same-sex "marriage", and birth control. On Thursday's CBS This Morning, Norah O'Donnell underlined how the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was "described as a staunch conservative". Mark Phillips also used the "conservative" label, and pointed out how the Pope's doctrinal stand has "not…

Newt Gingrich Schools Piers Morgan on Catholic Church 'Reform

March 14th, 2013 1:19 PM
Amidst the liberal media's fixation on Pope Francis upholding Catholic teaching on sexuality, Newt Gingrich knocked their wishes of liberal "reform" on Wednesday's Piers Morgan Live. "I am amazed at how much western elites translate reform into sex. If it doesn't relate – if it doesn't relate to sex, it doesn't count," he told host Piers Morgan, who then ludicrously claimed that "if you are…

CBS, Lefty Sites Quick to Slam New Pope

March 14th, 2013 9:30 AM
That was fast. The celebration in St. Peter’s Square hadn’t yet died down and the world was still digesting the news that Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio had become Pope Francis. Almost immediately, some media outlets were out to find downsides and discord. CNN had the dubious distinction of being first out of the gate, waiting just seven minutes after the white smoke signaling a new pope…